Hibiki's new way
by urgin
Summary: Alternative history - Hibiki is almost killed in ambush with Melanos fleet. Read and find out what happens next.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread – it is a property of Gonzo. All characters I introduce may not be used without permission.

This is an alternative history of Vandread. The action begins in eleventh episode when Hibiki escapes from Nirvana. Words spelled in _italics_ are referring to situations from anime.

__

Alone yellow figure was flying away from Nirvana. "It's Vanguard. The prisoner escaped." Stated someone on the bridge. BC tried to stop young pilot, using his private channel: "Hibiki, what are you doing?" 

"I'm not going back to the cellar again! Goodbye! " - said Hibiki and thrusted away. In no time his Vanguard vanished from scouting systems of Nirvana. 

"Really, what the hell did I do? " - Hibiki asked himself recalling previous moments of his life - "Shit!"

He couldn't understand what to do next and where to go now. He almost began considering a possibility to return to Nirvana when battle alarm started beeping. Suddenly group of strange blue stars appeared at some distance and high-intencity energy beams were fired everywhere around him. Dancing between the beams, Hibiki cried - "Noyarro, I'll beat you all without uni…"

The end of this phrase was cut off when one of beams hit his vanguard straight in the head. 

On the bridge of the Melanos fleet flagship second officer cried excitedly "We did it, Commander! The enemy doesn't show any hostility anymore!"

"Wait, this unit is not in our database, this is probably not our enemy … well rather was not now." said his counterpart girl.

"But it was coming from our eternal enemy's direction and the response codes were unknown, so…"

"Stay calm please, let's pick this robot up and see if there are any survivors." stated commander and the flagship started moving towards drifting Vanguard.

When Hibiki regained his consciousness he was lying on a treating bed looking at white ceiling. He tried to move his head to look around, but was paralyzed with sudden pain in his head. "A-a-a" – he couldn't hold a gasp. Almost in a moment he heard a beautiful voice:

"O, you're alive! Thanks god!" - some pretty girl's face appeared beyond his blurry eyesight - "We thought you didn't survive the explosion, but your robot was much more tough it looks." 

"My robot… explosion… what's going - Ouch!" - Hibiki was too excited and tried to move again – with the same result. 

"Don't move please you are still too weak after the operation. Your forehead was severely damaged, it's a miracle that you are still alive. " - Girl laid her hands on his shoulders and laid him again.

"Where am I? Why am I here? And who in the hell am I? Damn why can't I remember anything?"

"As I've already said the fact that you are alive is a miracle by itself. Your head was damaged very severely and our surgeons warned that minor brain malfunctions may occur for some time after operation."

"Well it's all very nice but still – do you know who am I?"

"According to the data we got from your robot for some time you were flying a great starship called "Nirvana" and several hours before you parted from it and headed in our direction. We must apologize we took you for our eternal enemy and fired on you. Your robot was eluding our beams very well but something went wrong and you got hit in the head. Our engineers said that your body and robot's corpus are connected so damage inflicted to robot's head was transferred to you also so… "

"Oh Aivoh…"

"Looks like you are already remembering. So you are Hibiki Tokai from Taraaku planet, your battle partners are UFO-girl, Jura and Meia and your robot can do something called uniting – it's about all we know about you and your companions. We thought that you would tell us more about it when you wake up but now I understand that you need rather much time before you will be able to do it. You must have your rest. Good-bye."

"Wait tell me please…"

"You must sleep now. Do it yourself or I'll give you a medicine, ok?" - girl left his room. Hibiki decided to follow her rather pushy advice. Well he couldn't do anything else could he?

When he awoke next time room was very noisy - he saw several people sitting and chatting around him. All of them were sitting in pairs – man and woman. There were two characters without a pair though – a nurse he had already seen and an old scarred man sitting in the center. That person started conversation:

"Hello brave warrior! It's very nice to see you onboard. I'm sorry about that misunderstanding - we thought you are our foe. We know now that you are fighting with our eternal enemy so you are our friend. As people say: "The foe of our foe is our friend" isn't it? Well, let me introduce myself – I'm Commander Tadoroko – the admiral of Melanos anti-Earth fleet. Our planet – Melano - was never a paradise still we enjoyed our life there for hundred years. But three month ago our scouts spotted a great fleet coming by. Then a part of it changed its course and directed to us. We tried to communicate with them but our attempts were ignored and our ships were destroyed. We countered most of their attacks but now a great ship with support fleet is coming this way. Its size is several times bigger than anything we've ever seen. So we set up a defense line here and we shall fight to the end to stop that fleet. We would gladly accept any help you can lend to us. First of all please try to remember any information that could be useful in our struggle. If data from your robot's systems is correct you've also been fighting with this enemy for a long time now so maybe you could tell us about their strong and weak point and so on… Feel free to say anything you'd like."

"I'm really sorry I can't help you right now – my memory is totally empty, but I hope I'll regain it sooner or later and then I'll tell you everything I know. But…" – Hibiki's voice cracked and he passed out.

Nurse jumped from her seat – "God damn I should've thought about that – he is too weak to have such a long conversation. Please leave now, I'll inform you if he returns in condition well enough to say something to you. " 

Everyone in the room sighed and went away except The commander. He asked: "When do you think this will happen?" 

"I don't know, but I hope it'll be soon – we don't have much time left."

"Yes, you are right. Contact us whenever it would happen. Goodbye." – commander left also. 

Treatment room was now silent and peaceful once again. Nurse shut down all lights except a night-lamp and looked at sleeping figure. Then she sighed and sat near Hibiki. "God, please help this boy … and all of us too."

Several hours after Hibiki awoke again. He saw the nurse sitting near him and snoring quietly. It was the first time he could examine her appearance: she had a slender figure but she wasn't especially tall, she had a kind-looking face, framed by long red hair. He stated for himself that looking at her feels good.

Then his train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted - "She must have been watching for me to the full exhaustion. Hibiki smiled – "Baka, you don't have to do this." – suddenly a strange feeling arose inside his soul. Just seeing this girl caring about him so much made him very content and he understood he wants to do something good in return. Never ever did he have such a feeling, so he was a bit scared about it. And still strangely… content? He couldn't remember much about his previous life – just random episodes here and there but he was somehow sure he never had this feeling before.

"What've happened to me, what's going on? Why would I have such a feeling to an unknown person, especially to a girl? Am I going crazy or something?" – An answer didn't come, but something hidden in a distant corner of his mind told him, that it was ok and this feeling is more than normal for a guy. 

"A guy? Is this the source of my worries? Do I think it isn't normal for a man to have such feelings? Guess it's true." – Suddenly an idea came into his mind – "I should ask her about it when she wakes up. It looks like her world is different from mine, maybe she can tell me more about men and women and how they relate… Anyway I should try to sleep more now – I need some strength to talk with her about all this."

The decision was made, so he gave sleeping girl one last thankful look and closed his eyes. In several minutes his snoring joined hers, making a perfect mushy scene.

Next time Hibiki awoke he saw that the girl raising her head and rubbing her eyes. Then she understood he wasn't sleeping and jumped from the bed – "I'm really sorry, I was so tired I must have had some rest. How long have you been up already?" 

" Well I think one or two ho…" 

"Oh no, the Commander will kill me"

"Just kidding – it was several seconds." – Hibiki laughed.

"Damn, you scared me. Next time you would like to pull my leg please try a subject that isn't connected with my duties… hmm you joke and laugh – it means you are much better than before so you can have a more productive conversation with our authorities then last time. I'll contact the bridge." 

"There's no need to do this. I've tried to recall at least anything of my memories after I woke up but it was only some scrap pieces here and there – nothing of interest to you. I'm useless right now so don't bother them."

"Well I'll just contact the bridge and tell them what's going on. Commander can decide everything he wishes right? After all it's his own time and he knows how to spend it better than anybody else."

"Ok, ok of course I don't mind. Call him but it would be only a waste of time."

Girl pressed some button and told – "Commander our guest has already awoken but he says he can't remember anything useful right now so he asks you not to waste your time on him." – she turned to Hibiki – "Am I right?"

"Totally." Answered young boy, so nurse continued – "When he we will have at least something to tell you I'll contact you again, ok?"

"Let it be so then, thanks for you work" – said commander – "I'm looking forward to hearing you again. Goodbye." – communicator switched off.

"So young man, what are you going to do?" 

"Well ma'm I would like to introduce myself – I'm Hibiki Tokai, third-class citizen, parts mechanic and a Vanguard pilot all in one. I'm very please to meet you. And you are?"

"Since when do you have remembered all thus stuff? Last time we talked you didn't know even your name… Maybe you have recalled more than you just said so I should tell commander about it ne?"

"Hey why are you so picky all of a sudden? I didn't say anything wrong! What's up? Or you don't want me to know anything about you, ne?"

"Alright, it's a draw. My name is Reiko Hotaru and I'm a nurse here as you could have already guessed. What else would you like to know? Maybe my measurements?"

Opposed by such repulsive answer Hibiki decided to step back for a while:

"I'm really sorry. If you have so much negative feelings about this talk I'll ask you no questions any more. I really appreciate everything you have done to me, so thanks for your care."

An uncomfortable silence fell on them for several minutes then girl began with her voice trembling:

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to oppose you. Your curiosity is quite understandable, just… " – she stopped for a second – "Well I didn't like speaking about myself for a rather long time. It takes some time to get rid of old nasty habit, ne? So what would you like to ask me about?"

Hibiki had a deep thinking for some time before starting new topic. Then he asked thoughtfully:

"If it would be ok with you I'd like to know more about life on your planet - how can men and women coexist to be more precise?"


	2. Heart talk

Disclaimer: Vandread is a property of Gonzo, any introduced characters are mine and shouldn't be used without my permission. 

Sorry for the long waiting – I've got hard times in my university. Anyway – here is the second chapter for your pleasure or fury. Hibiki is acting rather OOC here – but it's because his brain was damaged. You never know what would happen in such situation. 

"I don't understand what are you talking about? Men and women were living together since the very beginning of human race. It's just natural for them to 'coexist' why would you…" 

"What the hell? – Men and women has been fighting for ages. We don't have anything in common!"

"Who've told you all this crap? It's ridiculous!"

"I've lived this way for sixteen years! Don't tell me it is a crap!"

Suddenly Reiko calmed down and looked at Hibiki with concern in her eyes:

"Since when did you remember that you are 16 years old?"

Hibiki was very surprised with such a question, but he tried to answer it honestly. – "It looks like I've remembered it several minutes ago." - He mumbled thoughtfully. – "My memories are slowly coming back. It's very nice!" 

"Yes it is. From what our medics told me I can conclude that your injuries should have taken at least a week to recover. You are a tough guy!"

"Thanks, but please can we continue our previous topic?"

"I need to report to commander about your progress."

"Hey you, my recalled pieces of memories don't include a single one about fighting with our enemies. Stop being so stubborn please. And don't change the subject."

"Arguing like that won't do us anything."

"Alright, I'll listen to you without remarks."("I hope." – He said to himself.) – "At least I'll try."

"You've got me. I don't have any excuses now, so we can begin this damn talk. By the way, why are you so interested in this question? I don't see any signs of hatred in our relations while you are a man and I'm a woman. Where is the anticipation?"

"I don't know, I just don't feel it right now. But all that I can remember from my childhood tells me that women are demons that plague the universe. Damn it I am confused that's why I'm asking, baka!"

"Well, this makes sense. If you were raised in such environment… Naturally, men and women are living together. Melano was colonized by people from planet Earth hundred years ago. Our database tells us that on the Earth children were born from the combination of genes of a man and a woman. After some action a child began growing inside mothers womb and he grew for 9 month. Then she gave birth and raised her child with the man that gave her this child. However our environment made this model rather unusable so Melano people are born and raised in special machines. When two people want to become parents they put their chromosome into such machine where two children would be born. Afterwards these two children are raised by their parents. They stay together from their first living moment to the death of one of them. These pairs are very stable, because no other person can understand you better than your own twin brother, no person can have such a deep feeling to you, no other person…"

Not ending a phrase Reiko burst into tears. Hibiki was very surprised and startled. He couldn't understand what to do. – "What happened? Why is she crying? Did he say something wrong? What can he do to help her?" – Was all he could think about. 

He wasn't even surprised why was he caring about her tears so seriously. Suddenly, something hidden in a distant corner of his mind advised him to hug her lightly and say something like – "It's all right, everything's already gone, you've got to live it trough." – Talking to himself was rather strange but he decided to follow this advice – he hadn't any better decisions.

Supposedly (though not for Hibiki) this actions really helped. Reiko sobbed a bit more then she relaxed and calmed down. With a sad smile she looked into Hibiki's eyes – "Do you understand now why I didn't want to talk about it with you? I just couldn't resist it."

"I'm really sorry, but I don't understand why were you so sad? What happened?"

"Baka, of course you can't understand!" – Girl became rather angry suddenly and tried to break herself from Hibiki's embrace, but stopped herself. – "Suppose you didn't guessed yet. Have you noticed that everyone are talking and walking with their twins?"

"Well, I didn't leave this room for a single minute, so I couldn't see. But some people came here and they all had their twins. I guess it's so."

"Thanks for your appreciation very much. Have you seen my twin anywhere?"

"Nope."

"That's it. Guess what's happened?"

"An accident?"

"Well not just an accident. He was on the board of first ship that made contact with that bastards. I saw him off when he was going on diplomatic mission. I looked at the mark of his ship going to meet that damned fleet. And I saw this mark blinking once, when he at last had reached his destination. Then were many orders from High officers, our ships began fighting, everyone was yelling and I just stared at the point where I have seen the mark last time. I was a high-ranked officer then, but I was resigned for incompetence. No one blamed me though. Our pair was very popular on our ship, many people heard his last words before the flight – "Don't worry, it's just a routine mission. You don't have anything to worry about. I'll be back soon." I just wasn't prepared for such … situation. I decided to stay with our fleet anyway and became a nurse. I don't know why, perhaps I just continue to hope that someday he would be brought back by our scouts. I know it's stupid, but I just keep dreaming – it helps me to live." – Reiko sighed again and continued – "Now you do understand?"

A very uncomfortable silence fell for a minute, then Hibiki sighed too and began to talk.

"Well madam, I can't fully understand your pain and suffering – I haven't lost anyone precious to me before – or at least I don't remember any such emotions. What I do understand is that I've asked something I shouldn't have asked and now I am terribly sorry for doing it. I didn't want to make you sad, I didn't want to make you cry. And now I really want to kick some asses – just to avenge all harm they've done to you. And nothing can stop me now. This beings are not gonna be forgiven. I'll crush every single bit of them. I'll do everything to wipe those tears from your…" 

Hibiki immediately shut up but it was too late. The words have already escaped his mouth. Reiko looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. Suddenly she began to blush, Hibiki joined her in a second. For several minutes they didn't say a word, they just looked at each other and blushed. Then they simultaneously broke silence with "Well…", then they giggled at their clumsiness and started again with "But…" in the same moment. It was too much for both of them – the situation itself was too funny so they started laughing and laughed for several minutes before Reiko regained her breath enough to say something:

"You are great Hibiki, I haven't been so happy for a very long time. You made me remember my best moments of my past. Thank you very much." - She thought for a moment – "You know, I don't regret about telling you of my past. In fact our talk helped me to get over it, and seeing a young warrior seeking for my attention gives me a damn good reason to live on."

"Wait it is a misunderstanding, I don't seek for your attention!" said severely blushing boy.

"Ha-ha, I've got you. "

"No, you didn't. Everything is not like this."

Suddenly Reiko became a bit more serious.

"Calm down young man. Let me ask you a question concerning our topic. Is it true that your whole planet is populated only by men?"

"Yes, of coo-o-rs-s-s."

"Hmm, looks like you understood, that your way of living is not the only natural. Well, it's really good. What do you think, a person living all her life in a world, where love is common between a man and a woman would know something about this kind of relations?"

"Well, it's true, but…"

"Do you confirm that you don't have any experience in this question?"

"Hmm, I get your point."

"Very well, now if I tell you that your behavior shows your interest in me do you believe me?"

Hibiki became very silent and serious. His whole face showed a deep thinking process inside his injured head. After several minutes he sighed and forced out – "Yes, I believe you." - Then he fell into deep thinking again. Reiko was very puzzled about his behavior. She sat silent for a minute before asking him – "What's up, what are you thinking about?" 

Hibiki lifted his head and their eyes met. Reiko's eyes showed interest, concern and… maybe care? His eyes showed disbelief, sadness and… fear? Hibiki just understood that she really cares about him and the fact made everything even more complicated for him. Reiko was very surprised – she couldn't understand what was he afraid of, why didn't he want to accept his love, what was the reason of all this? She decided to make the situation clear.

"Hibiki, why are you afraid?"

This simple question turned young boy into a furious demon – "I'm never afraid woman, forget about this word when you are talking with me!" – He calmed down and continued – "Anyway, I owe you a story of my past… so listen attentively. As far as I can remember our society has one main idea: "Women are demons, they are a threat for humanity, if you see a woman you must kill her or be killed by her". It means that the only feelings one can have for a girl is hatred and fury. But when I woke up here first person I had seen were you, and this fact didn't oppose me. Afterwards I begin to develop even some liking to you. It is quite different from what I should have felt, you see. And now you say that my liking even may be seen by other men. I'm not afraid baka, I'm rather ashamed of it. And I don't want to believe it. Try to understand a person, whose ideas are changing completely!" 

He paused for a second and continued – "And don't judge me to severe." 

Hibiki became silent and thoughtful again lowering his head, so did Reiko. Several minutes past in silence before she asked youngster again. – "I understand that our upbringing is rather different but we both did giant steps in understanding each other. I didn't mean any harm telling all this, in fact it was some sort of compliment, so I'm sorry if it opposed you. Will you forgive me, Hibiki-kun?"

"Why was that -kun added? I don't understand."

At this point both of their heads were already up and they were looking straight into each others eyes. 

"Well, when girl calls a boy she have interest in by name she often use –kun after his name, you know. And I do have some interest in you. Though we know each other for a very short time, I feel that 

I can trust you. I don't understand why, but you resemble my twin. Maybe it is because you were brought back by our scouts just like I imagined. At first sight you don't have anything in common, but at second you are so alike. And you both like me." 

She blushed and continued – "And it looks like my desire for him changes into care for you somehow. I want to thank you very much for all this."

After saying this Reiko draw forward and kissed Hibiki. Young pilot was totally overwhelmed by both her speech and her actions. For several seconds he couldn't understand what to do, but suddenly something hidden in a distant corner of his mind moved his mouth and he kissed her back. They kissed for a minute, then parted. Both were rather embarrassed and blushed fiercely. It was Hibiki's turn to speak now.

"Thank you very much for your understanding Reiko, I really treasure it. If I can do anything for you to thank you for this treasure feel free to ask. " – He stopped for a while, looked at Reiko's beautiful face, found her eyes and said looking straight into them suddenly even for himself. – "And you know, I really like you."

"Hmm, when did you learn to please a woman? You shouldn't have had much experience."

"I don't know either. By the way, how a boy who has "interest" in a girl calls her? Does he add any suffixes?"

"He adds –chan to her name."

"Well, then doumo arigatou gozaimasu (thank you really very much) Reiko-chan." - Hibiki blushed a bit saying this.

"You are welcome. " – answered pleased girl and chuckled. – "You are so cute."

Young pilot looked irritated – "Why would you call a man cute? It doesn't make sence."

"No it makes. And I was wrong about pleasing a woman. The difference in our upbringing is too big. But of course it's not your fault. You are not very experienced in it so I'll let you go this time, but you should learn fast – I'm not going to bear with it forever. And don't be so much against complimenting a person – it's a really good thing to do because it shows to person you like how much you like her." – Reiko thought for a second and added – "You know I like you too, Hibiki-kun."

They were going to kiss once more when battle alarms suddenly turned on. 

Author's notes: I hope everyone already recognized second mine character here – Something Hidden In a Distant Corner Of his Mind. In future I'll refer to this person as Shidcom. Basically it's just Hibiki's male instincts that were oppressed for his whole life – and now they are somewhat released, so our hero can hear such advice from time to time. 

I'm really sorry but my next chapter will be posted not very soon – studies, studies. However keep intact. If you want to give me some good advice about my story, language and so on don't hesitate to write a review or you can email me (urgin@inbox.ru). 


	3. Painful memories

Disclaimer: Vandread is a property of Gonzo.

Sorry for the waiting – the third chapter is updated at last.

Hibiki immediately rouse himself – "What in the hell is going on?"

"Looks like we are being attacked." – answered Reiko. – "These are battle alarms."

Suddenly their communicator turned on: "Our scanners detected large enemy forces 5 minutes away from our fleet. Alert all personnel. This is not a drill. Expecting enemy contact in 5 minutes."

"Damn it, looks like I've gotta go out and fight. I'm sorry Reiko-chan, may we finish it later?"

"Hey, you are a patient, you are wounded, and you don't remember anything about fighting, isn't it?"

"No it isn't. This damned battle alarm somehow affected my brain. I do remember almost everything about my previous fighting now. I'm really sorry I couldn't tell the commander about all this earlier, but who would have thought that all that was needed to make me remember was a sound of battle alarms." 

Suddenly Hibiki stopped himself, thought about something for a moment, then he continued – "Give me communicator please."

Reiko was puzzled so much that she gave him the device without any word. Then young man pulled himself together and said: "This is Hibiki Tokai from ship's hospital. May I speak with the Commander?"

"You are speaking with him right now. What is your request?"

"Sir, I don't think there is any meaning in going to bridge right now, I'll need several minutes just to get there. And distracting you by going down here isn't wise either. I'll tell you everything I remembered from my previous battle experience, can you redirect my speech to everyone else?"

"Yes, it is possible."

"Ok, I'll start then." – Hibiki put communicator down, cleared his throat and then continued – "Are you ready?"

"Systems are on, You are our star now."

As he was starting his speech each person on every starship and every fighter pilot listened carefully to the advertisement. 

"Listen to me everyone. I'm Hibiki Tokai – a robot pilot who was shot down by your forces recently. I'm willing to share my battle experience with you. First of all I'm talking to fighter pilots, if I'll need to tell something to ship's gunners, I'll state it especially. As you already know enemy fleet consists of several ship types. Enemy cubes – they are fast, agile and weak, just one shot and they are dead. Try not to get surrounded or they will crush you. X-fighters, too fast to get, too agile to fire them alone, launch several missiles if you have any or group to hunt them down in order to make your fire so intensive that their agility won't help them. But duel them – and you are dead. Pods – these are hard guys, don't face them, or you'll be out in one shot. Attack from 1 or 11 o'clock and fire in their center – it's a weak point. Spiked guys – that's a big headache, missiles won't harm them, fighter's gunfire doesn't do much damage either, their only weak point – some place where spikes don't grow. If you occasionally can target it – do it without hesitation, though you better try to leave them to ship's gunfire – they won't be able to sustain that much damage. Generally, my suggestion is – let fighters take out cubes and X-fighters and concentrate ship's gunfire on pods and spikes." – at last Hibiki stopped and immediately gasped for air. – "Dammit, it was a long speech."

Suddenly communicator turned on again: - "It was a good speech, young warrior, your information was very valuable to us, but what do you think we should do with that kind of ship?"

Hibiki turned to monitor in the treatment room and saw a giant figure with glowing three-ray star on it. 

"Holy shit, what in the hell is THAT?"

"We don't know either" – continued the Commander – "And we really don't want to know. Anyway, it's heading here so we will in no time."

"I'm sorry guys, I haven't seen anything like this before."

"Thanks for your help anyway." – Communicator turned off.

Hibiki sat back on the bed and watched the giant ship in silence with his face showing marks of deep and not very pleasing thoughts, then he whispered – "We won't die easy, you demon."

Reiko looked at depressed boy and said – "We are not afraid to meet our destiny, Hibiki. If we are going to die we will die struggling to force them away from our planet. Keep fighting to the end – that's our motto." 

She sat near young man and asked in soft voice – "Now, maybe we can finish?"

Hibiki looked at her with merely recognizing eyes. Then he shook himself and answered – "Well, maybe we can." – he paused for a second and added – "Thank you – Reiko-chan."

Their second try to kiss each other was interrupted by several explosions all over the ship. And it was too much for Hibiki to bear. He cursed the enemy, jumped up from bed and rushed to the exit. At the door he turned back: - "Damn it, I'm really sorry but I have to go." – He was already going to exit the treatment room when Reiko stood up and cried:

"Hibiki, please wait!"

"What's up?"

Reiko walked to him, embraced him deeply and said – "I'm not afraid for myself, but I am for you. Please, promise me to return alive."

"I promise!" – answered Hibiki. 

Shidcom told him to kiss the girl, so young boy did. He kissed her goodbye and ran out of the room. 

Reiko sat back on his bed and said to herself – "God, please help him and spare his life."

At that very moment several mighty strikes hit the flagship and one of them was directed at ship's hospital. Hibiki ran approximately 60 feet away from the door of his room when he heard a great explosion nearby. He turned around and suddenly caught a gleam of fire in his room. He screamed and rushed back, but he instantly understood, that he was too late. The room was a mess, his bed was broken and there lied Reiko… She seemed almost unharmed, but when young boy kneeled down beside her, the girl coughed blood. She raised her hand a bit and whispered – "Give me your hand."

Hibiki instantly grasped her hand by both of his arms and cried – "Reiko, what's up? Are you hurt?"

She managed to brush his cheek gently, then grope his hand and said – "Don't forget your promise, Hibiki-kun. Please stay alive and remember me…" – she coughed blood again – "I… love… you…"

After saying this Reiko fell silent forever. Hibiki felt her hand weakening the grip. He tried to keep it but the hand was just falling down. Hibiki dropped her hand, snatched her shoulders and shook her crying: - "Reiko, are you ok? Reiko, say something to me! Reiko, hang on!!!"

Several minutes passed before Hibiki could finally understand that Reiko was dead. These minutes were very hard for him. His mind didn't want to accept the fact that the person he… loved? was now dead. And that he was the cause. If only they went to the bridge Reiko would be alive. 

"God damn, why did it happen? Why did she die? Why didn't we go to bridge together?" The fight between his feelings and his consciousness however, was won by the latter.

So he stood up with pain and fault in his eyes. – "I'm sorry Reiko. Please forgive me-e-e-e!!!"

Explosions were heard all over the ship. Enemy was closing in. Young boy was running away crying from the treatment room. - "No, why did it happen? Damn it, why did it happen?" 

He just ran forward, but occasionally he ended up in ship's main hangar. There he saw a mechanic working on a big yellow robot. Hibiki could hardly see anything through tears covering his face, but this image was too familiar to him.

"Aivoh… here you are." – Young pilot ran to the robot. The mechanic – a pretty girl with short hair and deep blue eyes - turned to him and asked: - "Hey, who are you?" 

"I pilot this thing." – said young boy. – "And who are you?"

"I'm ship mechanic as you can see. My name is Seran, what's yours?"

Young man brushed away his tears and was finally able to understand what was going on. He didn't forget his pain and fault – he just couldn't do it – he only pushed it deep inside. – "I'm Hibiki Tokai. I was shot by your fleet some time ago. I heard that my robot was damaged badly, how long would it take to repair it?"

"Well, it's about ten of minutes."

"Hmm, it's not good. Would you mind if I help you? I know him better than anyone!"

"Of course. You are welcome."

Hibiki climbed into cockpit and worked there while Seran was fixing outer side, standing on hover pad. Combining their efforts they managed to finish in several minutes. Hibiki climbed away from cockpit and saw girl, smiling with relief. 

__

"There, done! Thanks for waiting! Ready to launch! Do your best!"

At that very moment another great explosion turned the part of hangar where Seran's pad was hovering into pieces. Hibiki jumped down to the floor of the hangar. He rushed to her and cried – "Seran! Are you ok? Hey, hang on! Hey!"

"Everyone! I wonder if everyone's ok." – then she passed out.

It was too much for a young boy. To see two people dying on his hands in ten minutes was just too much. And it was his fault again – if only she wasn't there repairing his robot she would be alive. Mindlessly he stood up, climbed into cockpit and took off the hangar. Hibiki's sorrow, pain and fault was turning into rage - as deep and great as the universe. – "So much death… Why? Why does it happen? It's unfair! Why do all people I meet here die on my hands? You've gonna pay me for it! Noyarro's I'm coming for you!!! A-a-a-a-a!!!" – He cried all the way while his Vanguard was flying out from the hangar.

The battle was not going well for Melanos fleet – they managed to blow up some Pods and other lesser battleships, but their ships were severely damaged, many of them already destroyed and the Mothership was closing. The defense line was going to break up.

__

"Don't falter, show them our will!" – cried the commander. Then a small shining star appeared from fleet flagman's main hangar. 

Instantly it was attacked by several cubes, but?! 

Slash – a cube was sliced into two pieces. Slash – another one. Hit, slash, slash, slash – group of cubes exploded.

"Come on, who's next!" – cried Hibiki and rushed forward to enemy pods. Cubes, pod's fire, fighters flying over him – nothing could stop enraged warrior. His robot resembled a living being burning with rage, wanting to destroy every single piece of enemy and ignoring anything else. The angel of doom, the Sword of revenge – that's what he was now! 

Hit, hit, slash – a pod is exploding.

Dodge, dodge, slash – an X-fighter is destroyed. 

"I'll get you all, bastards!!!" – cried Hibiki and continued his dance of death.

__

Astonished by such power and skill the Commander ordered – "That boy! Everyone, follow that boy!" Hope appeared in hearts of the crew as ships began to regroup. Their gunfire became more accurate and intensive. It looked like the odds were on their side now. 

__

Suddenly all smaller craft rushed away from the front side of the Mothership. In a second enormous ray of fire was send towards the fleet, destroying bigger part of it. Hibiki watched the whole scene of destruction. 

He understood that now even the remains of person he liked were scattered in the void. Astonished, speechless – and then even more enraged he turned back and beamed to the source of all evil – giant ship closing in. _An aura of hatred and revenge could almost be seen around his Vanguard. – "Noyarro-o-o!!!" – Hibiki was already a hundred feet away when a light from the Mothership's port side blinded him. This wave of light overcame his aura and threw young boy into unconsciousness. _

Young boy didn't see how the remaining ships of Melanos fleet were destroyed. He didn't see how Rabat's ship flying by changed it's course and got near him. He didn't see how his Vanguard was taken into Rabat's warehouse and how Rabat changed his course to meet with Nirvana. He didn't see anything, he was not in this plane of reality.

Author's notes: 

Advertisement: If you like my style of writing – please inform me about it reviewing my story and telling me you want a continuation. If I'll get enough such reviews I'll try to rewrite Vandread using Hibiki's new features. I have several ideas about how his life would change after this way of meeting with Melanos. Otherwise the story will end here. However, constructive criticism in your reviews is always welcome.


End file.
